Orlando Stations Bring Home Upi Broadcast Awards

Two television stations and three radio stations in Orlando took top honors for their news coverage in awards presented Saturday by the United Press International Broadcasters of Florida.

WESH-Channel 2, WCPX-Channel 6, WKIS-AM (740), WDBO-AM (580) and WWKA-FM (92.3) were recognized at a joint meeting of the UPI organization and the regional chapter of the Radio-Television News Directors Association held in Orlando.

WDBO picked up seven awards, including three first-place citations for its coverage of Hurricane Elena, for a series on teen-age suicide, and for news staff member Rick Flagg's investigative report titled ''Death: A Florida Way of Life,'' a profile of inmates on death row.

Five awards went to WESH. Its report ''Florida Fires'' was cited as the best newscast among stations in its competitive division. Judges praised WESH's use of live satellite reports to update viewers on fires across Central Florida, said Mike Aulabaugh, regional broadcast sales director for UPI.

One of WCPX's two awards was a first-place citation for Ed Trauschke's report on storm destruction of Cedar Key. ''Trauschke went all the way to get this story,'' said Aulabaugh, reading the judges' comments, ''doing his stand- up report in a driving rain, next to a road that was being washed away.''

Among four citations for WKIS was a first-place award in the sports reporting category to Steve Hall and Christopher Russo for their piece on professional boxing.

WWKA was cited for having the best newscast in its division for its report on Sept. 30, 1985. ''The entry was a good variety of stories with excellent use of sound . . . to maintain interest,'' Aulabaugh said.

UPI placed TV stations in competitive divisions based on the size of their market; radio stations on the size of their news staffs.

Although WESH and WCPX competed against each other, they were in not in competition for awards with stations in larger markets like Miami and Tampa/ St. Petersburg. WKIS was judged in a different division than WDBO and WWKA because of its larger news staff.